Regarding the iPad, I am Dr. Buzzkill
Steve Yelvington,
Weblog,
Jan 28, 2010
Now that I've gloated a bit, it's time to take serious stock of the iPad's shortcomings. Of which there are many:
- everything - all content, all software, comes through the proprietary iTunes (or iBook) portal; even web content comes through Apple's Safari - no Firefox on the iPad
- no multitasking - when you are watching a video on the iPoad, you will not be checking your email or in any other way distracting yourself from the advertising
- no Flash, so the greatest source of (free) videos is not available; if you want the video experience, you need to be prepared to pay for it
- no USB ports, so you cannot plug in any potentially subversive devices like a printer or external disk storage or a mouse
- no camera, which means no Skype videophone (or movie-making, or any other subversive activity involving creativity or communication).
So - Apple has left the field wide open for the product that will eventually dominate this niche. Content vendors, meanwhile, are salivating at the prospect of owning the market (at least in the U.S.). Meranwhile, numerous writers have made the same points: Techdirt, the Chronicle, Mashable, Doc Searles, Mashable (again), Gizmodo.
- everything - all content, all software, comes through the proprietary iTunes (or iBook) portal; even web content comes through Apple's Safari - no Firefox on the iPad
- no multitasking - when you are watching a video on the iPoad, you will not be checking your email or in any other way distracting yourself from the advertising
- no Flash, so the greatest source of (free) videos is not available; if you want the video experience, you need to be prepared to pay for it
- no USB ports, so you cannot plug in any potentially subversive devices like a printer or external disk storage or a mouse
- no camera, which means no Skype videophone (or movie-making, or any other subversive activity involving creativity or communication).
So - Apple has left the field wide open for the product that will eventually dominate this niche. Content vendors, meanwhile, are salivating at the prospect of owning the market (at least in the U.S.). Meranwhile, numerous writers have made the same points: Techdirt, the Chronicle, Mashable, Doc Searles, Mashable (again), Gizmodo.
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